Meet Carli Lineberry, a young woman living out her calling to love God and serve others. She's currently twelve mission trips in and preparing for number thirteen and believes being willing and available to go where we are called is key.
When did you first feel the call to go, and what has that looked like since your first YES?
I was first called to be a missionary when I was 15 years old, and then went on my first mission trip when I was 16. My first trip was to Kenya, and it forever changed my life. It was during that trip that transformation took place within me, and I felt completeness as I was walking in my divine purpose. I was hooked on missions after that, and I have since been a part of 12 mission trips. I have taken 10 of my trips with my church, and I also took two with Global Expeditions before they disbanded. Starting in 2017 I have begun to co-lead the Missions Department of my church with my Lead Pastor/Mentor. I am looking forward to many more trips in the future! It is exciting to step out into the purpose that God has destined for you. It’s amazing to watch as God uses you and you begin to see life change take place within the lives of people. These trips create an environment where you are able to step out and experience the goodness of the Lord. You feel empowered through the realization that God wants to use you to accomplish great things for His kingdom.
This summer you’ll be taking your thirteenth mission trip when you head back to Kenya for the fifth time. What will you be doing while you’re there, and what goals do you have for this trip?
We partner with an amazing church in Kenya that does such awesome ministry. We minister in schools, prisons, poor communities, and to women who are trapped in sexual slavery. We have also have held medical clinics. The one community we minister to lives in a garbage dump. It is hard to describe the dump-site to someone who has never been there before. There are such amazing people who live there lives in this village in the dump. It breaks your heart to see the conditions in which these people live, but instills a drive within you to make a difference.
My favorite ministry that we do is when we minister to the women who are trapped in sexual slavery. I have a huge passion to help combat human trafficking around the globe. This is a major problem in the world today and I am honored to play a part in the restoration of women who have fell victim to this terrible epidemic. We as a church have a passion for the least of these and believe that every human being has great value and dignity. I believe that this coming trip will be the greatest one yet and I am so excited. My goal is to reach more people with the gospel, and to see thousands come to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. I plan to see major life change take place within the lives of the people we are ministering to, as well as within the lives of my team. I have great expectations for this trip!
Having been on twelve mission trips, you must have seen and experienced some incredible things. Can you tell us about one especially memorable trip?
Each trip is so memorable and has impacted my life in such a mighty way. You always come back having experienced Jesus do so many amazing things through you. I believe that one of the most memorable trips would have to be my very first mission trip when I was 16 years old. That trip set the course for the rest of my life. I am so grateful to my church and Mentor Pastor Ray for the experience, and all of the opportunities they have given me in my life. This trip impacted me in such a mighty way and completely changed my life forever. I was empowered, healed, and inspired. God caused transformation to take place in me and through me on this trip. It was on this trip that I learned to completely surrender myself to the Lord. I remember God speaking to me and telling me to give all of the money I had with me to our ministry partner. I did so nervously, not knowing what it was for. That evening the adults went out and ministered to women who had been victim to sex trafficking. The next morning the team told me that they had come across a woman who was trying to earn enough money for her blind son to go to school. One of our teammates prayed over the young boy and he was healed, he could see!! They also told me that the amount of money I gave was the amount in which they needed for that young boy to go to school. This was such an amazing moment to realize what God can do through you when you submit yourself to His authority. I look back to this moment as a pivotal moment in my life. God is so good!!!
Serving others isn’t always glamorous. Which trip of yours would most fall into this category?
I had so much fun on my trip to Panama and it would have to be the most “roughing it” type trip I have yet to take. We traveled by a small boat to a small Island in Panama. We got to work with a small village where some amazing people lived! Each day we would go out and go from hut to hut to talk with and minister to the people. We also held a daily VBS for the kids as well. We took bucket showers (we were bathing in our bathing suits in the river until an alligator ate a dog and it was deemed unsafe haha). We slept in a hammock in a wooden hut, and our bathroom was a hole in the ground with tarps surrounding it for privacy. It was a lot of fun! I enjoyed being able to somewhat experience how other people live their lives each day. It was such a great time!
Okay Carli— you keep going and going and going. What motivates you to continue to desire to go and serve, and if you could sum up what you’ve learned through all of your going, what would you say?
I know that this is what God has called me to do, and I find great fulfillment in living out the calling that He has placed upon my life. It is on every trip and on every outreach that my compassion for people grows and my drive to reach them increases. My ultimate calling is to serve Jesus and in that I find my motivation. I enjoy serving Him through serving His people. It is incredibly exciting to be used by God, and He continues to amaze me on every trip!
If I could sum up all that I’ve learned through going on these trips I would say just to be available to the Lord and be willing to be used by him. I have learned that God is not looking for ability but is looking availability. If you are a willing vessel you will see God do amazing things through your life! Just be available to Him.
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